


Edelweiss, Edelweiss

by thekidwantsacoffee



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: F/M, Gore, Holocaust, Long-Term Relationship(s), War, World War Two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-19 10:35:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22142863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekidwantsacoffee/pseuds/thekidwantsacoffee
Summary: You were brought in to help patch up the men of Easy Company after Market Garden. A certain Liebgott catches your eye, and you also happen to catch his.[Title is taken from the Sound of Music song “Edelweiss”.]
Relationships: Joseph Liebgott/Original Female Character(s), Joseph Liebgott/Reader, Joseph Liebgott/You
Kudos: 30





	Edelweiss, Edelweiss

You had been brought in after Operation Market Garden. Because so many men had been injured in Holland, Sink only saw it fitting that they bring in another medic so that when Spina and Roe were busy, you could swoop in and save another man from losing his ass. 

The addition of a woman to Easy Company was an unusual one but not unwelcome. Your brothers had already been drafted and were in Italy while your sisters had enlisted in the Marines while you were still in school, so it was the obvious option for you to join the army when you finished. 

The boys in Easy Company were always nice, but that could’ve been because Winters would had killed them if they weren’t. Eugene took you under his wing, not because he was trying to teach you but because he knew you needed the support after seeing so many men injured. 

You started off somewhat quiet in the company, but as Luz, Muck, and Malarkey rubbed off on you, you got louder, more excited, more open. They even gave you a nickname. 

Since you were the youngest there (other than Shifty), you were dubbed Kiddo. Sometimes it was m’lady, and very rarely Doc. 

The last time you were in Aldborne was the greatest time of your life. You hung out with the men, you didn’t have to worry about stitching up anyone, and more importantly no one was getting shot in the ass. 

**Aldborne, England**

“One! Two! Three! Four!” The company shouted as Guanere chugged his pint. You were sitting across from him, beside Liebgott, pounding your fists on the table in time with the chanting. 

“Eight! Nine! Ten!” They finished as Guanere swallowed and held up the empty glass, standing to show off his beer drinking prowess. 

“And that’s how you drink, fellas,” Guanere announced, his eyes moving to you. “And m’lady.” 

You took a swig of your beer. “Don’t m’lady me, gonorrhea.” 

“Feisty, as per usual,” He said, his smile wide on his face. You rolled your eyes, feeling Liebgott tense beside you. 

You looked over to him, seeing him staring at Guanere like he wanted to kill him. “You good, Lieb?” 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” he stated, his hands wrapped tight around his glass. You took another drink from your own.

The attention was drawn back to Guanere. “Alright, I nominate Luz to go next!” 

“Fuck, you’re on!” 

You chuckled, but Lieb still wasn’t amused. He was just as tense as before. You fully turned towards him this time, placing your hand on his shoulder. 

He softened as he looked at you, his eyes locking with yours as everyone else chanted as Luz drank as if his life depended on it. 

Liebgott has been your closest friend since you first arrived. Albeit, he was a little rude at first because you hadn’t been through Normandy or Market Garden, but he eventually let up because you weren’t a replacement. 

“You wanna talk about why you’re so tense or...?” You ask. 

“Can we not do it here?” 

You nodded. 

The two of you stood up, walking back to the tent where Lieb was assigned. 

“You wanna tell me what that death glare was at Guanere?” You ask Lieb, almost laughing. “If you looked at him any longer I probably would be bandaging two eye-sized wounds in the back of his head.” 

“I don’t like the way he talked to you,” Lieb admits pretty quickly. 

“What?” 

“The way he called you feisty and the way he said m’lady. It puts me the hell off.” 

You crossed your arms as you shifted your weight on your legs. “He always does that, that’s just Guanere. You know that.” 

“Well maybe I’ve never liked it, Y/N, how ‘bout that?” 

You chuckled slightly before realizing that Lieb was fully serious. 

“Shit, Lieb, I-“ 

“No, Y/N, you don’t get it. I love you so much and this-this- this fucking asshole decides he can call you whatever the fuck he wants as long as he’s not even serious about it. Damnit, I might be a dirty thinking son of a bitch but I’d never do that to you.” 

You slowly smiled, opening your mouth to speak but Lieb kept going. 

“And it’s not just Guanere, it’s Muck, and Luz, and Perconte, and Toye, and that bastard Cobb, and — fuck, Y/N, they all say shit like that and it pisses me off every goddamn day.” 

You place your hands on his shoulders, moving them to hang around his neck. 

“You love me?” You say, tilting your head. His eyes have fully softened, looking like citrine as his wrapped his arms around your waist. His smile slowly appeared, as gentle as it would ever get. 

“Course I do, Y/N,” he said. “You’re the only thing getting me through this damn war.” 

“Good,” you reply, moving up on your toes as you plant a soft kiss on his lips. “‘Cause I love you too.” 

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear that.” 

**Bastogne, France**

Bastogne was another kind of hell. You’re honestly not sure how you didn’t lose a limb from the cold, much less the mortars. 

The only difference between Bastogne and actual hell was that it would’ve been warm if you were in hell. 

When you weren’t running around and checking on men to see if they were alive after the freezing weather or seeing if anyone had morphine or bandages for Eugene, you were often sitting in your foxhole with Lieb, leaned up against him under a blanket to keep as much warmth as possible. 

“I can’t feel my damn toes,” Lieb said, shivering like a sick puppy. “My socks are dry, damnit, I better not be getting trench foot.” 

“It’s 5 below, Lieb, of course you can’t feel your toes. I can barely feel my legs, and I’ve been on ‘em almost all day,” You tell him. “And I swear if you get trench foot I’m gonna be pissed.” 

Lieb chuckled as he intertwined his legs with yours. “Better, darling?” 

“As better as it’s gonna get.” 

“You know, Christmas is in a few days...” 

“Joe, babe, I will get out of this hole right now if you give me shit for not getting you a present.” 

“No, no, I’m Jewish, Y/N, it’s not that,” He said, laughing. “I just got an idea, that’s all.” 

“Oh?” You say, placing your hand in his. “And what’s that?” 

“Well, I can’t tell you that, it’s a surprise,” he states. 

You groan in disappointment. “Don’t leave me in anticipation like that! It’s agony.” 

“I promise you, you won’t be disappointed with it.” 

“You promise?” 

Lieb brought your hand up to his mouth and kissed every knuckle before answering. “I promise.” 

Christmas Day came, and after an announcement from Sink, you and Eugene were going around for bandages. And morphine. And some scissors. Anything you could get your hands on, really.

“Does no one in this entire company have a pair of scissors?” Eugene asked, frustrated. 

“It appears no, Doc.” 

He turned to you with a grin. “Kiddo, if you had a pair of scissors right now, what would you do with ‘em?” 

Eugene never called you Kiddo. He was very much not about nicknames, so this made you smile. “I’d get Lieb to cut my hair and then I’d hand ‘em over to you.” 

“Why do you want to cut your hair?” 

“So I can still run and be able to fuckin’ see.” 

“You make a very compelling point, Kiddo.” 

At this point your hair was a burden. You couldn’t have a helmet on with it up, and your last ribbon to tie it back wore down weeks ago. 

It would also keep a lot of the guys from staring at you, which would’ve been great news to Lieb. He was still jealous when the rest of the guys would steal looks at you, even though he knew fully well that you loved only him. 

“Let’s find some scissors then.” 

By the end of the day, your feet hurt, you were exhausted and your hair was in knots from your helmet. As you plopped down into your foxhole, not even your boyfriend’s smile could save your mood. 

“Merry Christmas, darling,” he said, wrapping his arm around you shoulders as you cuddled up under the blanket. “I missed you today.” 

“I missed you too, Joe,” You replied. 

“Ready for your surprise?” 

After a day of running around, you had entirely forgotten about Joe’s Christmas present to you. 

“Holy shit, babe, I forgot,” you tell him and he laughs. 

“ ‘S alright,” He says. He reaches under his coat and pulls out his razor. He hadn’t shaved in days, almost a week, and was now pulling off a bit of a scruffy look. 

“You’re gonna shave for me for Christmas?” 

He then pulled out a pair of scissors. 

“For Doc?” 

“No, actually,” Joe said, laughing. “Doc told me that you wanted to get your hair cut, and seeing that I’ve become the honorary barber of Easy Company, I figured that I would cut it.” 

You were almost ashamed to admit that you started crying the second he said that. You threw your arms around him and he returned the hug before slowly taking your helmet off. 

“Turn around, darling.” 

You did so, and with a few snips and no knicks with a razor, your hair had been cut in a way that was similar to Muck’s. Of course, you couldn’t see it, but you kept running your hands through it, feeling all of the weight off and knowing that you’d be able to see the men properly. 

You turned back around to Joe, beaming. With the tiny bit of light that was left, he took all of you in. It was his finest work yet, and it was even better with you wearing it. 

“How do I look?” You asked. You were a bit nervous, since you didn’t know if he would’ve liked you with short hair. 

“Like the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.” 

Tears were brought to your eyes again as you climbed into his lap, laying your hands on his chest. 

“I have another part of your gift,” Joe says and you pull away a little bit. He reaches behind his neck and he lifts off his dog tags, collecting them in his hand before handing it over to you. 

“Joe, what...”

“I want you to wear my tags, Y/N.” 

“But if you...”

“If Sink yells at me about it, I don’t care. I know those are meant to identify us if they can’t tell whose bodies are whose, but I’m not gonna die in this war.”

“How’re you so sure?” 

“Cause I have faith in my God that the two of us are gonna make it out of this together. Cause I’ve got you with me, Y/N. We’re gonna get through this war. Together.” 

“Then I want you to wear my tags too.” 

You quickly took off yours, and both you and Lieb held them out to each other. He took your out of your hands before taking his and placing them around your neck, as they should be. 

You quickly did the same to him before falling into his arms, kissing him deeply, loving him like there was no tomorrow. 

“Joe, what’re we gonna do when we get out of this war?” You say after you pull away. 

“Well, firstly, I’m gonna take you back to Oakland and marry you. It’ll be small but it’ll be real. Then we’re gonna buy a big house and I’m gonna drive a cab while you get a job at the hospital.” 

“Guess these tags serve as my ring, then.” 

“Darling, when we get out’ve here, I’m gonna buy you whichever ring you want.” 

And so the two of you slept, now engaged on Christmas night.

The heavenly feeling soon washed away, however. 

Another night in Bastogne, another night you almost froze to death. You couldn’t light a fire because if you did the Germans would kill you. 

But sometimes giving away posititions didn’t even matter. 

Like with Muck and Penkala’s foxhole. 

You couldn’t let their deaths get to you, you couldn’t. 

And then Guanere and Toye. And Buck. 

You blamed yourself for them. You could’ve gotten to Toye in ample time and he would still have his leg, and Guanere would still have his, and Buck would still be here, with you and the rest of the men. 

Joe comforted you through it, but you swore to yourself that if you saw a kraut who wasn’t quite dead yet, you would finish the job. For Guanere. For Toye. For Buck. 

**Foy, Belgium**

You shouldn’t have been surprised at Dike’s actions. He was a prick and a half, always staring at you whenever you and Joe were together, like the two of you couldn’t be trusted to do your jobs, even though he showed that he couldn’t even handle doing his own. 

No one in the company talked about you and Joe being together. Not because it didn’t come up, but because there were more pressing matters at hand, like, you know, fighting a war. 

“I swear to god if I hear another word come out of Dike, I’m going to punch him in the throat,” You said one night, leaned up against Lieb, who was mostly asleep. 

“You do that, honey,” he replied, turning on his side and pulling you against his chest. 

“You mean that?” 

“Sure, in fact, I’ll hold ‘em in place for you.” 

You smiled at him and kissed him softly, which brought a happy grin to his face. 

“I can’t wait to marry you, Joe.” 

“I can’t wait either, darling.” 

One day, when you were walking around with Eugene, you encountered a group of dead Germans who had frozen. It wasn’t the first time you both had found this (the last time was in Bastogne) and you wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t the last. 

You knelt down beside one of the Krauts, your hands moving his body over, searching for a pack of some kind, and while you couldn’t find any supplies, you did find a Luger. 

“You think Dike would be upset if I stole this guy’s sidearm?” 

“Do you think anyone cares what Dike thinks, Kiddo?” Eugene tells you. “Take it, you might need it at some point.” 

You took off the Kraut’s belt, placing the Luger in its holster. You untied you’re trench coat and put the belt on, showing it off to Eugene. 

“Liebgott’s gonna love that on ya.” 

“You think?” You smiled. 

Joe couldn’t get enough of it. He liked the idea of you being able to protect yourself from the Krauts if he wasn’t around —plus, everyone in Easy liked Lugers. 

While Joe did love it, you had to keep your trench coat over it at all times, lest you have Dike freak out about the woman having her own sidearm. 

When the time came to storm the town, you watched the men of Easy, led by none other than Dike, were shot left and right, and you stood beside Winters and Roe, listening to them yell and praying to God. 

When Speirs ran in to take over a weight was lifted off your shoulders as you yelled at him to run. 

“Get on it, damnit! Go! Go! Go!” 

Winters held you back, because if he didn’t, you would’ve shot more Nazis than you could’ve imagined. 

Cleaning up Lipton was a welcome surprise for you, he calmed you down a lot and he was overall a very easy person to talk to. It also reassured you that you wouldn’t been cleaning up Joe. 

“So you and Lieb are engaged?” 

“Yes, sir, we are.” 

“I better be invited to the wedding,” Lipton laughed. “I’ve been rooting for you two.” 

“Thank you, sir,” you reply with a smile as you wipe away the blood from the side of his face. “I’ll be sure you have a front row seat.” 

“Thank you for that, Kiddo,” Lipton said as you got all the blood off his face. “I bet Lieb’s missin’ the hell out of you right now.” 

Lipton was right. For the next hour, Joe wouldn’t let go of your hand. He couldn’t. He couldn’t find any power in his body to just let you go. 

“Did I ever tell you about the time I was nicked in the neck in Holland?”

“Did I ever tell you about how I would’ve felt horrible if I saw that happen to you?” 

Lieb was quiet for a few moments. “For a little while I thought I wasn’t gonna make it out of the war. They gave me my Purple Heart when I was in the hospital, I got my ass out of there, and then I was back. The entire time I was in that hospital, I thought that I wasn’t going to survive this war. And then I met you.” 

You didn’t reply. He squeezed your hand and you squeezed twice as hard back. 

“Joe, babe, we’re gonna make it out of here. It’s gonna be hell, I know it, but we’ll make it out of here, even if I’m bandaging your ass up the entire time.” 

Joe kissed you on the cheek. “That’s my girl.” 

**Haguenau, France**

Having a bed again was a more than pleasant change for you and Easy Company, but it also meant that you got your own sleeping quarters — away from Joe. 

It made sense, but it also pissed you off. He was your fiancé, for God’s sake, you two should be allowed to sleep together. 

You also couldn’t shower with the rest of the men, but you just took a bucket to the showers, filled it up, and carried it back to where you were quartered, which had a small bathtub. You did this a couple times, eventually filling it up enough for you to clean yourself. 

“You got to have a bath without me?” Lieb said when you explained everything to him. 

“The water was cold, quit being jealous,” You told him. 

“It’s not that it was a bath, darling,” he said before leaning into your ear. 

“Then what is it?” You said lowly, in a voice that only he could hear. 

“You took it without me.” 

Despite having been together for several months now, and being engaged, you and Joe hadn’t gotten to having sex yet. This was in part due to not wanting everyone in the company to hear or see you two, but it was also in part to it being too damn cold for the two of you to even think of taking any clothes off. 

You looked up at him, seeing that glint in his eyes. “I need a few more blankets in my room, there’s a part of the roof that’s been blown off and it’s so drafty, I almost froze to death last night. Can you get some for me tonight?” 

The part about the roof wasn’t a lie, but damn, was that request ever so inviting. 

“Course I can, darling,” Joe replies before kissing you. 

That night, at 0200 hours, Joe has made his way up to your room, actually having brung blankets. You had already been laying in bed, almost asleep, thinking that he wouldn’t come after all. 

You propped yourself up on your elbows, watching as Joe made his way to your bed. He took notice of your lack of a shirt, smiling as he laid the blanket down and getting down to his undershirt and boxers. 

You scoot over to make room for him as he climbs into your bed. 

“Hey, darling,” he says with a smile, cupping you cheek before kissing you. 

“Hey, baby,” you reply after he pulls away. 

While the two of you didn’t have sex that night, there was nothing better for Liebgott than simply being by your side in an actual bed. 

The next day came the unwelcome stare of Lieutenant Jones. It didn’t bother you like Dike’s did, but sure did make you feel uncomfortable. He watched you as you patched up a deep cut on Luz’s hand from him being a complete dumbass with a can and a knife. While you and Luz talked and joked about his cut, Jones didn’t say anything. He just sat in silence, watching. 

“I admire your work...?” Jones said to you after Luz left. He was searching for your name. 

“It’s Y/N, Lieutenant,” You tell him. “And thank you.” 

“How long have you been on the lines?” 

“Since after Market Garden. You, sir?” You ask as you begin to clean your hands in the sink. 

“I just graduated from VMI.” 

“Ah,” You said, wiping your hands and placing everything back in your bag. “College boy, like Web.” 

“I-“ 

“Can you quit staring at me, Lieutenant?” You say, cutting him off. “You’ve been doing it all day and it’s gettin’ on my nerves.” 

“Sorry, I’ve just-“ 

“What?” You paused, but he didn’t say anything. “You’ve never seen a woman who’s a medic on the front lines before? Maybe you should join the Marines, then, they have an entire Corp of just women.” 

“I’ve never seen a woman as beautiful as you before.” 

You stop, crack a smile, and laugh at that, and Jones looks shocked.

“I mean it, you really are,” he assures you, but you still laugh as if it’s the funniest thing you’ve ever heard. He couldn’t seem to understand what was so funny about what he had said. 

“I’m engaged, sir,” you laugh out. 

Jones looked at your hands, searching for a ring, and then back up at you. You pulled up the dog tags from around your neck, grabbing the piece of metal and bringing it close enough for Jones to read. 

“Joseph Liebgott,” he reads out before you tuck the tags back into your shirt. 

“I have his tags, he has mine. I wear them every damn day, and I’ll wear them every day for the rest of my life, Lieutenant.” 

You walk away from Jones and find Lieb, who was smoking while leaning against the outside of the building you two were quartered in. 

“Lieutenant Jones needs to learn how to hit on women correctly if he ever aims to get married,” you say as Joe gets out a cigarette for you. You hold it as he lights it, taking a slow drag. 

“Why’s that, darling?” 

“ ‘Cause he’s not gonna get anywhere if he keeps goin’ after engaged to be married women.” 

Lieb tensed up, just like he did when Guanere called you feisty. 

“Calm down, Joe, I shut him down quick, don’t worry. I made him read your tags.” 

Lieb was cut off from answering as a voice rang out in the distance. It was a German one,the voice of a soldier they left on the patrol last night. 

“What’s he saying?” You ask Lieb. 

“He’s crying out for help. ‘Anyone, please, I’m alive’. It’s mostly just that.” 

“Would that guy shut the hell up?” You heard Cobb say, but you didn’t respond. You couldn’t. “Christ, if he doesn’t shut up I’m gonna shoot him.” 

“Doesn’t do good to shoot a man if you can’t see him, Cobb,” You finally say. “We wouldn’t have to hear him anyway if you didn’t fall out of the boat on patrol last night.” 

“At least I was asked to go on patrol, unlike you two,” Cobb said, turning to face you and Joe. “If I recall, neither of you were there last night.” 

“What the hell are you gonna do with a medic on a fucking patrol?” Lieb responded. 

“I just think that it’s funny that neither of you were there last night and you two happen to be engaged. What were you two doing? F-“ 

Before Cobb can say another word, you walk up to him and slap him across the face. 

“I don’t know about you, Cobb, but I personally wouldn’t disrespect the person responsible for keeping you alive when you’re crawling around on the ground, begging god for mercy and asking for your mother after you’ve been shot,” you state coldly. “Whatever the hell I do with my fiancé is none of your damn business, so if you find yourself wondering abo it any of that, I suggest you get your head out of your ass and find something else to fantasize about.” 

You grab Joe’s hand and walk off to where the rations are being organized and handed out by Luz, who is now sporting your spot-on bandage work. Everyone is yelling for everything, even Joe, who is currently trying to get a Hershey bar, while you’re trying to get a pack of smokes so you can quit bumming them from Joe. Not that he minded, you just didn’t want to have to find him every time you wanted a cigarette while you were alone. 

Even after all that begging, the extra chocolate bar was given to Perconte because he was one of the lucky men to be shot in the ass. Joe got a small pack of gum, though, and you got two packs of Lucky Strikes. 

Night fell once more, and you and Joe were laying on your bed, watching the smoke of the cigarette you two shared go through the hole in the roof, the dull sounds of explosions occasionally filling the silent air. 

“Babe?” 

“Yes, darling?” 

You turned over, placing your hand on his chest. It was one of your favorite things to do. It grounded you, it kept you sane through all of this, and it did the same for Joe. 

“At our wedding, I want you to have an edelweiss in your pocket.” 

“Why’s that, darling?” 

“It’s the mark of a true soldier,” You tell him. “And I’ll be damned if you’re not.” 

“Alright, alright, but you’ve got to wear one too.” 

“Where would you like me to have it?” 

“Tucked up in your hair, behind your ear,” Joe said, brushing the exact spot with his hand. He ran his fingers through your hair, impressed with his work and seeing just how beautifully you wore it, even after weeks of wear and tear. 

“What’re you starin’ at?” You say playfully. 

“The most gorgeous woman in the world.” 

You smiled at him softly, kissing him deeply before laying back down on his chest, his arm wrapping around you. 

And it almost felt like heaven. 

**Landsberg, Germany**

The sight of German soldiers was nothing new to any of you — you saw them almost every day, you were in a war with them after all. 

But there was something about the ones that were marching past you that made you seem to hate them so much more than you ever did before. 

You didn’t say anything as you passed by in the truck beside Webster and Joe. You sat in the middle of them so you could stop at least some of their bickering. You held Joe’s hand almost the entire time. 

You had to admit, it would have been so satisfying to yell at one of the Krauts, hell, you would’ve loved to slap on like you did with Cobb. 

But it seemed like Web already had that under control. 

“Fascists! Murders! How could you fight an expect to win?” He yelled out. “Fucking facists! I hope you all rot in hell! Senile fucking pigs!” 

“Give it a rest, Web,” you say after a while, tired of his constant yelling. 

“You’ve been goin’ at it for an hour, college boy, they get the picture,” Joe followed. 

Web didn’t care. He kept yelling anyway. 

After everything that came later, you wouldn’t have minded if he shot a couple of them. 

You were one of the first people to jump in the car with Major Winters and Captain Nixon when Perconte came to find them. You immediately found your fiancé standing at the gate of whatever the hell he and the rest of the patrol had found. 

And then the true horrors began. 

The faces of the people who stared at you haunted you. You didn’t know what to do — you just waited for Winters to say something, anything, so you could help. 

When the gates opened, the people inside marvelled at you and the men. One man reached out to you and Joe, his hands dirty, callused, bloody. 

When Winters ordered Lieb over to translate, your heart began to race. 

“I don’t know what that means, sir. ‘Unwanted’, ‘disliked’, maybe?” 

“Criminals?” Winters asks. You knew in your heart that these people weren’t criminals. This couldn’t possibly be a place for criminals. 

“I don’t think they’re criminals, sir. No. Doctors, musicians, tailors, clerks, farmers, intellectuals,” Joe tells the Major. “I mean, normal people.” 

The prisoner beside Joe starts to repeat one word, “Juden”, and you see your fiancé’s face immediately drop. 

He hesitates for a moment. “They’re Jews.” 

Your heart sinks. You think back to all the times you had seen a German soldier. They let this happen. Hell, they fought for this to happen. These were human beings, and they tortured them, beat them, stuck them in this giant prison —no, cage, and killed them because they were Jewish. 

You hand made its way up to your mouth. You could hardly stomach the thought. You looked to your fiancé and couldn’t even begin to imagine what he was going through. It was impossible to tell what he could’ve been thinking. 

Joe was a Jew. Any of these prisoners could’ve been him. 

You somehow managed to keep it together as you tried your best to give out aid to the prisoners. It seemed as though they wouldn’t stop coming, hoarding around you as you attempted to bandage and clean what you could. 

Sink eventually arrived. He told Winters to give the order to Joe to tell the prisoners that they would be staying until they could figure out what to do with them. 

Upon hearing this, you pushed your way to Winters, beyond furious. 

You simply couldn’t believe that Sink had just ordered your fiancé, a Jew, to tell the rest of his people that they would be staying in this torturous hellscape. 

You knew that Joe couldn’t tell them that. You couldn’t stomach the thought. 

“Major, how can we keep these people in this hell? How?” 

“We’ve got nowhere else for them to go, Y/N,” Winters explained. “I hate it too, but there’s nothing I can do to stop it.” 

“I’m sorry if you take this as insubordination, sir, but Colonel Sink is out of his goddamned mind if he thinks that this is the only way that they can be handled.” 

Your argument was getting nowhere with Winters. He had been given orders, and you knew that. 

“There’s an entire town of people who let this happen. The least they could do is house a couple of them in their homes until we figure out something better than this.” 

Nothing. 

You paused. “Can I at least help a few more of these people before we pull out of here?” 

Winters nodded and you went back to where you were on the truck. You held up your bandages with one hand and your canteen in the other, allowing you to clean up a few more of their woods before Luz and Bull had to literally pull you away from the scene. 

You didn’t know the silence of a drive could be so deafening. 

Back at camp, you and Joe finally got some moments alone after it all. 

It was only a second before Joe teared up, turned toward you and buried his face in the crook of your neck, holding onto you for fear life. He sobbed and sobbed and you stroked the back of his head, comforting him like there would be no tomorrow. 

“Joe, baby, it’s...” You didn’t know what to tell him. It wasn’t okay. That was a torturous hell for people who were no different than him. “We’re gonna make this right, right?” 

“How the hell are we supposed to make this right?” He said between sobs. 

“We’re getting them out of there as soon as possible and we’re going to give them justice,” you reassured him, rubbing his back. “I’ll kill every damn Nazi if I have to, but I swear we’ll get them justice.” 

The people of Landsberg were ordered to bury the dead prisoners themselves, barehanded, so they could face the music. 

No one could understand how the people couldn’t have known about this. Part of you didn’t know how they could’ve ignored it. The rest of you didn’t want to know how they were able to. 

**Austria**

The war was over. Hitler had killed himself, the Germans surrendered, and here you were, still in Europe. 

You and Joe were informed that he still had to earn 8 more points before he could go home, and that meant you were going to stay with him. 

Cobb was as much of a nuisance as ever, commenting on everything he could about you and Joe. It tore you to your wits end. 

The day Shifty received his discharge from the lottery was the day you had enough. 

Cobb had been beyond pissed that his name wasn’t drawn and felt the need to get drunk to wash away his bitterness. Unfortunately, for the rest of the company, you had to listen to him gripe about every little thing. 

“And then there’s gonna be no one at home waitin’ for me to get back, no one to kiss, to fuck, to marry, nothin’!” 

“For love of all things holy, will you shut up, Cobb?” Lieb asks, sick of his shit. 

“And then there’s you! You’ve got your dame right there beside you, and you ain’t even got to wait!” 

“Shut up, Cobb,” Luz said this time. 

Cobb made his way over to where you, Joe, Bull, and Perconte were sitting, with Luz, Malarkey, and Martin near by. 

“I’m not finished!” Cobb shouts. “This ugly, rat-faced, Jewish bastard gets the girl and I get zip?” He asks aloud, pointing at Joe. 

“You wanna repeat that, Cobb?” Joe says, turning to face Cobb. 

“I said, you were an ugly, rat-faced, Jewish bastard,” Cobb says slowly, coldly. 

“That’s what I thought you said.” 

Before anyone knew it, a fight broke out between the two of them, with a few people coming to Cobb’s side and your best friends to Joe’s. You ducked behind the table to get out of the way, but you soon became panicked. 

Not even Martin’s shouts could get any of them to stop, so you did the next best thing. 

Getting up on the table, you took the Luger — the one all the way from Foy — cocked it, and shot into the air. The men stopped and you cocked it again. 

All of them stared at you, and down the barrel of your gun. It was pointed at Cobb. 

“I told you not to disrespect the person meant to keep you alive, Cobb, and that includes my fiancé.” 

The air was stiff around you. It was almost a pain to breath. 

“On the count of three, you’re gonna walk out of here nice and slow. I don’t want to see your wretched, disgusting face anywhere near me or Joe ever again,” You say, and before Cobb can protest, you continued “If you don’t, I’ll warn you that I don’t miss, Private.” 

Cobb was gone faster than a paper boat going down in a mudslide. 

Martin decided it was necessary to pull you out of the bar as well. 

“The gun was unnecessary, Y/N,” Martin says. 

“Cobb would’ve probably killed Joe if I didn’t do what I did, sir,” You explain. “Did you see Joe’s eye? His lip? I’m surprised he doesn’t have a broken nose!” 

“You were ready to kill Cobb.” 

“I would’ve done it if I had to, sir,” You admit. “You do everything and anything to protect the people you love, sir, and if it were your wife or girlfriend or fiancée, you would’ve done the same.” 

“It doesn’t matter what I would’ve done, it matters what you did.” 

“Do you remember Landsberg, sir?” You ask. 

Martin pauses. 

“Do you remember Landsberg?” 

“Yes, Kiddo, I do.” 

“Those were Jews, sir. All of them,” You say. “Joe is a Jew, and Cobb knew fully well what he was saying. He saw Landsberg—that fucking camp. He knew that Joe could’ve easily been one of those prisoners.” 

Martin doesn’t stop you. 

“He insulted my fiancé, sir, and insulted him on account of him being Jewish. And if you believe that what I did was wrong, I’m sorry, sir.” 

“You are so lucky that I’m not gonna court marshal your ass, Liebgott.” 

“Thank you, sir,” you say, but you pause. “Wait a min-“ 

“You heard what I said perfectly fine,” Martin told you. “You two are practically married already.” 

Practically wasn’t even the word for it. You two were sick and tired of waiting for the war to end for you two to get married, so you decided to get married there in Austria. 

Turns out, Bull Randleman was ordained, so he agreed to marry you and Joe. You and Joe were perfectly fine with you not having a dress, but you sure as hell cleaned the hell out of your clothes before and pressed them to the best of your ability. 

It was decided that Nixon would be in charge of getting you two a wedding gift, which ended up being three bottles of liquor — one Prosecco, one Merlot, and one Vat 69. 

Malarkey and Webster were Joe’s best men, and Luz and Roe were perfectly fine being your “bridesmaids”. 

Buck, Speirs, and Winters argued over who would walk you down the isle, but you kept your promise to Lipton — not only did he have a front row seat, he had the special honor of handing you off. 

The finishing touch was the Edelweiss, which Joe climbed up to get himself. When Lipton handed you off, he kissed you on the cheek and placed the little flower into your palm. 

Instead of exchanging rings, Joe had a little flower himself that he placed in your hair, and you placed yours in his pocket, just like you both had said they would be. 

The ceremony was short and sweet, and you had never felt such a harmonious rush when Joe kissed you. 

You were now Y/N Liebgott, married to the wonderful Joseph Liebgott, and everyone cheered at the top of there lungs. 

You pulled away and laughed joyously, holding up you and Joe’s hands. 

“Oh, c’mon!” You shouted out. “Get out there and play some goddamn baseball!” 

This caused the men to cheer even louder as they ran into the field. 

You turned back to Joe. “C’mon, war’s over! Go have some fun, baby,” You say. 

Joe kissed you again. “I love you, so much, darling.” 

He kissed you one last time before running off to join the others in the game. 

You would be damned if you said you didn’t enjoy the game. In fact, it was the best baseball game you had ever seen in your entire life, and it would remain that way for as long as you lived. 


End file.
